Miami Real Estate Market Update

Photo courtesy of Lenny Furman

Miami real estate asking prices are still too high, and sellers still don’t get it. If one drives around Miami Beach, or Coral Gables, particularly in those areas where luxury homes are located, it becomes painfully obvious that there are almost as many homes for sale now as there were in early 2009, when the real estate market in Miami took a deep dive.

Many homeowners who want to sell, but whose homes are not up for sale, report that they are waiting for the market to change, before they place signs in front of their houses. They feel as though they will not be able to get what they consider to be a good price for their property if they try to sell now.

The reality is that they are not going to be able to get what they consider to be a good price, whether they wait or don’t wait, because the fact is that sales prices are where they should be.

Prices that homes were selling for in 2004 and 2005 were so inflated that when the bubble finally burst, almost everyone was shocked, and now in 2011, sales prices of single family luxury homes are more or less the same as they were 7 years ago -- exactly where they should be.

It is understandable why sellers are frustrated, because in America real estate is supposed to appreciate, and if prices are the same now as they were so long ago, it is very hard to accept. However, if homeowners who want to sell, come to the realization that 2004 and 2005 home prices were based on greed alone, and not on value, it may well become a little easier to accept.

Realtors are also very much to blame for the frustrations of homeowners, because in their zest to get a listing, they tell a homeowner whatever he/she wants to hear, in order to secure the listing. The owner, of course, believes the realtor, gives the agent the listing, and then becomes extremely frustrated, when 6 or 12 months pass by, and the seller receives no offers on the property.

What is the answer? It is very simple. Realtors need to tell the truth to homeowners, and homeowners who want to sell must necessarily become a lot more realistic than they are.

If anyone doubts the veracity of what is written here, one needs only to look at the facts. Here are the most recent statistics of home and condo sales in the Miami area.